Impact Newcomer. Larry Wright(G), Jr, Oakland. The junior transfer from St. John’s University, should have an immediate impact on the Summit League. Two years ago he led the Red Storm in three-point field goal percentage, and he should be the perfect replacement for Erik Kangas, The Oakland great who set the all-time single season mark last year with 145 threes. Wright’s long-range shooting could be the key to Oakland’s success.

What You Need to Know. The Summit League is like the little engine that could. Every year, it produces a scrappy team that creates some hype in the NCAA Tournament. Last year Ben Woodside and his rag-tag boys from North Dakota State challenged the defending national champs (Kansas), and just came up short 84-74. This year’s Summit League has the potential to produce a similar Cinderella story, with teams like Oakland and Oral Roberts reloading with some really talented players. Watch out for Oral Roberts and their newcomer Damen Bell-Holter (Mr. Alaska 2007, top 50 center prospect on Scout.com) who has the potential to dominate the lesser big men in the conference. Defense is the key to winning the Summit League. Last years champ NDSU held their opponents to 69.1 points per game, and Oral Roberts, in their three straight championships from 2006-08, held their opponents to 62.0, 64.9, and 68.1 points per game.

Predicted Champion. Oral Roberts (NCAA Seed: #14). With all the questions about age and inexperience with the Golden Eagles, it seems that Scott Sutton has the answers with his experience and skill level as a coach. Give him talented players, and his team will always compete. If Oral Roberts clinches another Summit league title, it will be their fourth championship in five years. I think a tough non-conference schedule (at Wake Forest, Missouri, New Mexico, Louisville,and Stanford) will be a trial-by-fire, and help their young freshmen mature quickly. The tough schedule also will help the NCAA Selection Committee give them a more favorable seed, especially if they win a couple of those big games (best bets are at home against New Mexico and Missouri). A #14 seed in the Big Dance will give Oral Roberts the Cinderella tag. A first round win is not out of the question for a Scott Sutton-led ORU squad.

We’d like to apologize for our coverage yesterday. We had some technical/communication issues regarding the post yesterday, but I’ll be back covering the games today so everything should be back to normal. Here’s a quick rundown of the games we’ll be covering today:

Early Games

12:15 PM: #14 Stephen F. Austin vs. #3 Syracuse

12:25 PM: #9 Tennessee vs. #8 Oklahoma State

12:30 PM: #11 Utah State vs. #6 Marquette

12:30 PM: #14 North Dakota State vs. #3 Kansas

Afternoon Games

2:45 PM: #11 Temple vs. #6 Arizona State

2:55 PM: #16 East Tennessee State vs. #1 Pittsburgh

3:00 PM: #14 Cornell vs. #3 Missouri

3:00 PM: #11 Dayton vs. #6 West Virginia

Evening Games

7:10 PM: #16 Morehead State vs. #1 Louisville

7:10 PM: #12 Arizona vs. #5 Utah

7:20 PM: #10 USC vs. #7 Boston College

7:25 PM: #13 Portland State vs. #4 Xavier

Late Night Games

9:40 PM: #9 Siena vs. #8 Ohio State

9:40 PM: #13 Cleveland State vs. #4 Wake Forest

9:50 PM: #15 Robert Morris vs. #2 Michigan State

9:55 PM: #12 Wisconsin vs. #5 Florida State

Quite frankly, today’s slate looks a lot more interesting than what was on yesterday. There are 3 games in each of the 4 groups that seem like they will be entertaining except for the afternoon set where only the 6/11 match-ups really catch my eyes. Feel free to leave your thoughts or questions on any of these games or the ones from yesterday in the comment section. I’ll be back around noon to cover the day’s action.

12:15 PM: Ok. We’re about to get underway. I was a little delayed by the fact that the bus to RTC East decided to pick up 3 people in wheelchairs, which slowed down my trip significantly (had to get them in/out during 6 stops). Is anybody rooting for Stephen F. Austin just because they can’t stand Eric Devendorf?

12:20 PM: “The best look the Lumberjacks have had so far”? That was only their 2nd possession of the game. The crows is awful in Miami. I know its early, but there is nobody there. I have to say the NCAA did a pretty poor job with their pod placement. I’ll have to double check, but Miami is probably the worst pod location in terms of distance from the participating schools (and the fact that they don’t care about sports in Miami).

12:30 PM: Rough start for Stephen F. Austin in Miami. Already down 10-2. Hopefully they can keep it close although this was probably the game that was the most likely to be a blowout in this group.

12:35 PM: Did anybody pick upsets in this group of games? I have North Dakota State and Utah State.

12:40 PM: Good game in Dayton (Ok State 14, Tennessee 13 with 12:20 left in the first half). In Boise, Lazar Hayward is up 7-5 on Utah State.

Location: Fargo, North DakotaConference: Summit League — Tournament ChampionCoach: Saul Phillips, hired 2007. Record at NDSU = 42-1908-09 Record: 26-6 (16-2)Last 12 Games: 11-1, won 7.Best Win: vs Oakland 66-64 on 3/10/09 for the Summit tournament title after the teams had split the season’s two earlier matchups.Worst Loss: Southern Utah, 69-74, on 2/14/09, though the most heartbreaking was the 4-point loss at USC on 12/20.Off. Efficiency Rating: 103.0 (139th)Def. Efficiency Rating: 107.7 (285th)

Nuts n Bolts

Star Player(s): Ben Woodside (5’11” senior guard), 22.8 ppg/6.3 apg and shoots 84.2% from the FT line and 42.7% from three.Unsung Hero: Brett Winkelman (6’6″ senior forward), 18.7 ppg/7.4 rpg and shoots over 50% from the field and over 80% from the FT line. Probably not as much “unsung” as he is simply playing behind Woodside.Potential NBA Draft Pick: None.Key Injuries: No significant injuries.Depth: 31.0% mins (170th nationally)Achilles Heel: Defense. NDSU lets opponents shoot 45.1% (254th) and 35.7% (251st) from the field and from three, respectively.Will Make a Deep Run if…: …Woodside can still hit shots even with the tougher defenses he’s going to face, AND he and Winkelman get some help from 1-2 other fellows who might find themselves benefitting from the attention Woodside draws.Will Make an Early Exit if…: …they don’t shoot well. This is where they live. This team shoots 49% and 41.2% from the field and from three respectively. That’s 3rd and 5th in the NATION, for those categories. If they don’t shoot well, it’s over.

NCAA History

Last Year Invited: None — this is their first eligible season.Streak: 1Best NCAA Finish: n/aHistorical Performance vs. Seed (1985-present): n/a

Other

Six Degrees to Detroit: NoneDistance to First Round Site: 235 milesSchool’s Claim to Fame: Alf Clausen, composer for The Simpsons, is an alum.School Wishes It Could Forget: That it wasted Woodside’s 60-point explosion against Stephen F. Austin in December; Woodside was the story, but NDSU lost that game 112-113 in three overtimes.Prediction: Do you want to see this team coming in the first round? Everyone’s going to be rooting for them. Woodside’s got a shooting eye that can turn out your lights and there’s probably not a lot of game film about. Still, probably a one-and-done debut. It’ll be fun to watch, though.

Should They FalterWake Forest, #4 Seed, 24-6 (11-5). Even more than Michigan State in the Regional Final, Wake could present the biggest match-up problem for Louisville.

Grossly OverseededUtah, #5 Seed, 24-9 (12-4). Utah tied for the Mountain West regular season title and tournament (carried by great computer numbers), but how can anyone say this team should have a higher seed than UCLA, Clemson, or West Virginia?

Grossly Underseeded
None. With the exception of Utah, the committee did an excellent job seeding this region.

Sweet Sixteen Sleeper (#12 seed or lower)
#12 seed Arizona. The last team in the field lucked out with an over-seeded Utah team then could throw their match-up zone at a Wake team that hasn’t handled a zone defense all season.

Final Four Sleeper (#4 seed or lower)
#6 seed West Virginia. If Alex Ruoff has a tremendous tournament and Devin Ebanks continues to progress into stardom, they have the personnel. A freshman PG worries me though.

Carmelo Anthony AwardSherron Collins, 18.3 PPG, 5.0 APG, 38% 3PT- As Sherron Collins goes, the Kansas Jayhawks go. He has the chance to take this young team under his wings and lead them to another Final Four.

Stephen Curry AwardBen Woodside, 22.8 PPG, 6.3 APG, 43% FG- Many college hoops diehards know Woodside and his scoring prowess already. Most casual fans will be introduced to him for the first time and his Cinderella Bison.

Home CookingLouisville, 1, 152 miles to Dayton. Ohio State, 71 miles to Dayton.

Can’t Miss First Round Game#7 Boston College vs. #10 USC, Friday. A very evenly matched game between two teams with studs like Tyrese Rice, Rakim Sanders, DeMar DeRozan, and Taj Gibson. Can the Trojans keep it going?

Don’t Miss This One Either#3 Kansas vs. #14 North Dakota State, Friday. An inexperienced and slumping Kansas team battling a fifth-year senior laden Bison squad. Could we have an upset brewing in Minneapolis? Don’t miss this one.

Lock of the YearWest Virginia will make the Elite 8. They’ll take down Dayton, North Dakota State and Michigan State en route to a rematch with Louisville.

Juiciest Potential Match-up (Purists)#6 West Virginia vs. #2 Michigan State, Regional Semifinal. Two of the best rebounding and fundamentally sound teams in the nation could do battle for a spot in the Regional Final.

We Got ScrewedKansas, #3 Seed, 25-7 (14-2). Besides the fact that Kansas deserved a #2 seed over Oklahoma, they have to face the most dangerous #14 seed in the tournament (North Dakota St.) and the most dangerous #6 seed in the second round (West Virginia). I would feel a lot better about Kansas matching up with the other #6 seeds.

Strongest Pod#2 Michigan State, #7 Boston College, #10 USC, #15Robert Morris. BC-USC could be a fun 7-10 game while Robert Morris is no slouch for the Spartans.

Upset Special#14 North Dakota State will beat #3 Kansas in the first round.

Region MVPTerrence Williams, Louisville.

So-Called Experts
The general consensus seems to be Louisville and I tend to agree. Sorry for going chalk, folks, but they’re easily the best team in this region.

From 850 the Buzz, apparently the usage of the word “unanimous” is a little ambiguous at the ACC offices in Greensboro these days, depending on who the player is they’re trying to promote (FSU’s Toney Douglas vs. UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough).

Now… on to the three dance tickets punched tonight.

# 10 – North Dakota St. (26-6, 16-2). NDSU is going to get a lot of national attention in the next week by virtue of the fact that this was their first eligible year in D1, and several players including star guard Ben Woodside redshirted their freshmen seasons to have the shot at the NCAAs they’re enjoying tonight, but remember that our very own John Stevens was all over this story before anybody – way back in mid-December when Woodside ripped the nets apart for 60 big ones. Tonight it looked as if their long-sought-after dream was dead, as the Summit League regular season champs found themselves down ten points with nine minutes remaining in the title game. Slow and steady, the Bison worked itself back into the game, and after Oakland’s Keith Benson tied the game with a dunk with 0:12 remaining, the ball was put into Woodside’s hands and the rest is history, 66-64.

Projected Seed: #13

Something to Remember: NDSU has the fifth most efficient offense in the country, and it’s predicated on great shooting and ballhandling. The Bison are #5 in three-point shooting at 41% and they are #11 in fewest turnovers per game. Whichever #4 or #5 seed gets this team had best bring their defense.

#11 – Cleveland St. (25-10, 12-6). Bubble teams all over America were cursing Gary Waters’ Cleveland St. Vikings tonight, as their Horizon League automatic bid earned over at-large lock Butler took one of the 34 available spots away from some hopeful team. Was it Creighton? Florida? St. Mary’s? We’ll never know for sure, but CSU held Butler stars Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward to a combined 21/12, and in so doing was able to make just enough plays on the defensive end down the stretch to get the upset win over Butler, 57-54 in their house. RTC Live had the liveblog coverage here, but if you were lucky enough to see the television coverage, you saw a team in Cleveland St. that wanted this game just a smidge more than their HL counterparts. The Vikings’ NCAA bid is their first since 1986.

Projected Seed: #14

STR: Cleveland St. played Kansas St. and West Virginia tough in losses earlier this year, and of course they beat Syracuse on the ridiculous 75-footer, so this is a team that won’t be intimidated as an underdog in the first round of the NCAAs.

#12 – Western Kentucky (24-8, 15-3). WKU started this Sun Belt title game on an 11-0 run, but South Alabama wasn’t going to just give the Hilltoppers the game so easily, as the Jags fought back to tie and even briefly take the lead in this one for a period in the mid-second half. But WKU, led by AJ Slaughter’s 18 pts and Stephffon Pettigrew’s 15/7, was not going to be denied, and Ken McDonald should be commended for the excellent job he’s done with a team that lost its star backcourt of Courtney Lee and Tyrone Brazelton (not to mention head coach Darrin Horn). Western Kentucky earned its 21st trip to the NCAA Tournament and its second in a row tonight.

Projected Seed: #11

STR: This is an unpredictable team. Although they finished the season winning eleven of their last twelve games, earlier in the season the Toppers lost by 28 to Murray St., 32 to Evansville and 28 to Mississippi St. They also defeated Louisville by 12. This is probably why WKU ranks #265 in Pomeroy’s consistency statistic.

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QnD Conf Tourney Updates.

Big East. Did you hear that the sixteen-team Big East Tourney started today? Georgetown and Cincinnati must not have gotten that memo, because neither team showed up for its own funeral, losing first-round games to the dregs – St. John’s and Depaul, respectively. Yes, Depaul, the same team that was 0-18 in the regular season. At least Seton Hall managed to beat S. Florida and Notre Dame kept its disappointing season alive for another day.

Centenary was outrebounded in their last meeting with NDSU by 22. Although Redus had a strong game, Adams and Stallings combined for just 16 points. Expect the same defensive play from the bigger, better guards of NDSU.

(2) Oral Roberts vs. (7) South Dakota St.

Home state advantage could make this a much tighter game than it is on paper. Jackrabbit forwards Anthony Cardova and Kai Williams, the only players taller than 6’5 to see regular minutes, must come up with huge games on the glass. If Ford and Lewis are not accounted for, it’s over.

Everybody’s favorite to be the league rep in the Big Dance. Now the only question is what seed they will be pegged. Many bracketologists (I use that term oh so liberally) have the Bison as a 14th seed, some a 15th, no one else to my knowledge has them as anything different. With such a dynamite record, is a 13th seed really that much to ask? Back on the 21st the Bison tangoed with the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in a scintillating BracketBuster match up for the ages. Check that, the only BracketBuster game anybody gave a flying squirrel about was Butler versus Davidson, and that game stunk. Do these one bid league teams really need to play an out of conference game during, uh, the conference season? I don’t think so. Plus, some of the BracketBuster match ups were a total waste of time, definitely not all created with equality in mind. But back to the task on hand, NDSU senior guard Mike Nelson tied a season high with 22 points. Senior point guard Ben Woodside was two rebounds short of a triple-double. NDSU concludes the regular season at 2nd place Oral Roberts on Feb.28th .

Update- NDSU clinched at least a share of the regular season title with a road victory over Centenary on Thursday (Feb. 26). Woodside and Winkleman combined for 66 points.

North Dakota State Bison 19-5 (13-1)11 games and counting since this squad last lost a game (Jan. 2 @ Oakland). Three out of their last four wins have been by at least 20. In a 38-point murder of UMKC on Thursday, 11 different players scored for NDSU and their 4th leading scorer Michael Tviedt was not one of them.

Ben Woodside (left), Senior, 5’11″: Leads the conference is scoring, 2nd in assists, and totally needs to acquire a license for his guns. Balances the duties of point guard and go-to scorer perfectly.

Brett Winkleman (middle), Senior, 6’6″: 3rd in the conference in scoring, tied for 3rd in rebounding, and his last name is Winkleman.

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 12-13 (10-3)Extended their 33-game conference home winning streak by squeaking past Western Illinois on Thursday, an important win considering the two game slide they were on coming into the game. Home date February 24th vs. NDSU.

Robert Jarvis (left) Senior, 5’11: 5th in the conference in scoring, probably has bigger guns than Woodside, and shoots a lackluster 38.5% from the field. Guy thinks his fecal matter and jump shot don’t smell.

Marcus Lewis (right), Senior, 6’8″: Oral’s 2nd leading scorer, team leader in FG% by a mile, and is tied for the team lead in assists (averages more feeds than Jarvis).

Jarvis & Lewis

Oakland Grizzlies 15-11 (8-5)
Two straight victories after two straight losses have the Grizz still in the hunt for the #2 seed. Celebs were in full force when Centenary traveled to Rochester for a date on the 7th. Didn’t actually see Joe Cribbs Car Wash mastermind Jerry with my own two eyes (almost sold out), but he was there.

Erik Kangas (left), Senior, 6’3″: The best shooter in the nation (inside joke, actually, wait a second) is 3rd in the country in total threes made, 2nd in the conference in scoring, and 2nd on the team in minutes/game (36.3).

Jonathon Jones (middle), Junior, 5’11″: J.J. currently has the most total assists in the nation, leads the team in minutes/game (38), and is only shooting 39.5% from the field (it’s unhealthy to be too much of a homer, got to keep it real).

Keith Benson (right), Redshirt Sophomore, 6’11″: Had to throw the big guy in here because he’s blocking over 2 shots/game (best in the conference.), 2nd on the team in scoring with 13.7, and the only guy I know who can effectively smile while swatting a shot, “running” back on defense, and getting cussed at by Coach Kampe. I’m telling you, the Only Guy.

Kangas, Jones, & Benson

The Others…

Southern Utah had a golden opportunity to draw within one game of Oakland for 3rd place with a win @ SDSU on Thursday, but couldn’t get it done.

After a 5-4 beginning in conference play, Centenary has lost four straight games by double figures.

IUPUI is quietly lurking at 7-7 thanks to a 5-1 record since Jan. 24th.

I think it’s safe to assume 2-10 UMKC won’t qualify for the Summit league tourney at this rate.

The Bison are pouring it on now. 5th year seniors Brett Winkleman and Ben Woodside combined for 59 points in a 10 point overtime victory at SDSU on Jan. 23rd. Interesting to note the Bison only managed 8 assists the entire 45 minutes. On Thursday night (Jan. 29) NDSU used a 13-0 run inside of the 6 minute mark of the 2nd half to drown the Grizzlies. Ben Woodside notched his 3rd double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 dimes. This win puts NDSU up 3 games on Oakland and a half a game ahead of Oral Roberts. The NDSU “team of destiny” murmurs are now circulating the Summit League landscape (gut source).

Oral Roberts 10-11 (8-1)

The last 2 Golden Eagle opponents have scored 54 and 51 respectively. Holding both opponents under 37% shooting will drastically help out the cause most nights. Oral Roberts is playing so well right now that Robert Jarvis (17ppg) has not needed to be a prime time offensive force (just 23 total points in the last 2 games). Senior forward Marcus Lewis scored 26 on 11-13 from the field in a victory over Southern Utah on Jan. 24th, all but ending the silly talk of Oral Roberts being too reliant on Jarvis shooting 20 + times a game. Really.

The Bison have not lost since falling to Oakland at the beginning of the month. Senior guard Ben Woodside is averaging 26ppg and 5 assists in the last 3 games. Even though senior guard Mike Nelson’s shooting %’s are down from previous year’s, he’s still the team’s 3rd leading scorer at almost 12/gm. This team may run away with the regular season crown.

Oral Roberts 8-11 (6-1)

Oral just lolls teams to sleep with good team defense and a deep but largely unspectacular scoring attack (5 players averaging at least 8ppg). A 5 game winning streak in which only one of their opponents scored more than 60 has allowed them to keep on the heels of NDSU. Something this team lacks is consistent outside shooting. No regular rotation player is shooting better than 33% from downtown.

SDSU - 2 days before Christmas the Jackrabbits beat Iowa State on the road by 7. While the Cyclones are anything but a powerhouse team, props to SDSU for getting this win and holding Iowa State’s second leading scorer to 5 points on 2-12 shooting.

IPFW - The Mastodons finally broke through for a W in league play with a 100-66 smackdown of South Dakota State (Jan.2). Former Kansas St. forward Deilvez Yearby scored 19, grabbed 9 boards and swatted 5 shots. Former Oakland forward David Carson scored 24.

If you know anything about us here at RTC, you know that we love numbers. We love breaking down game stats and looking for secrets in the offensive and defensive efficiency ratings that will help us better understand why Team X is playing so poorly or why Team Y is much better than their ranking. We also love statistical oddities – little factoids of generally meaningless but still interesting data that we can bring up at RTC office parties and cocktail functions so that we’ll seem edumacated and wicked smart about the ins and outs of college basketball. Or at least so that we can impress Dickie V when we next run into him at a spring training Rays game. Yeah, that.

So here are a few of the statistical items that we find interesting as we approach conference season – perhaps you will also. (all stats furnished by basketballstate.com)

These guys had better avoid foul trouble. UAB’s Robert Vaden, Texas’ AJ Abrams and Virginia Tech’s AD Vassallo each average over 36 minutes per game for their teams.

Double-Double Trouble. Of the 19 players averaging double-figure rebounds, all of them also average double-figure points. But only two of them are 20/10 guys – Blake Griffin (23/14) and Notre Dame’s Luke Harongody (23/12). Patrick Patterson is just a whisker shy of 20/10 (19.6/9.5).

Betcha Didn’t Know That…

Stephen Curry leads the nation in scoring (30.0), but Tyler Hansbrough puts up the most points per 40 minutes (34.4)

North Dakota State’s Ben Woodside, he of the 60-pt explosion two weeks ago, is #2 in the nation in assists (7.6 per game). Or that Davidson’s Mr. Curry is 12th nationally in dime-dropping.

Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks is averaging 24.2 ppg so far this season. The last Wildcat to average that many points per game was Dan Issel in 1969-70 (33.9).

UNC is the most efficient offensive team in the nation (1.19 points per possession), but did you know that Purdue is the most efficient defensive team around (0.79 ppp)?

The tops of the ACC and Big East have extremely efficient teams on both ends of the court – UNC, Wake Forest, Duke, UConn, Pittsburgh and Georgetown all have large differentials (approaching or above 0.3 ppp) resulting in an extra point every three or four possessions down the court.

The slowest paced “good” team is Wisconsin, with 61.4 possessions per game. UNC, unsurprisingly, is averaging 79.3 possessions per contest.

Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and West Virginia own the boards, each team getting at or nearly 60% of the available caroms. It’s difficult to find a “good” team that can’t rebound the ball, but Creighton is the best candidate for this award, only getting its Blue Jay hands on 48.2% of rebounds.

Notre Dame only turns the ball over one of every eight possessions (13%), but Kentucky gives it away nearly a quarter of the time (24%) and has still managed to go 10-3 thus far. Incidentally, the Irish also rarely foul opponents (#1 in the nation with only 11.8 per game). Tennessee, with all of its reaching and grabbing pressure defense, garners 21.3 fouls per game.

Georgetown, Connecticut, Xavier and Oklahoma live at the foul line, each getting a quarter or more of its points from the charity stripe. Illinois, on the other hand, only gets about 14% of its points from the line.

The best offensively efficient performance by one team in a legit game this season so far was UNC vs. Notre Dame, where the Heels averaged an astonishing 1.53 ppp in that demolition.